9th-level spells? The apex in a spellcaster's might. Spellcaster's at this magnitude strive to become gods, and have nearly reached that goal! Becoming this type of spellcaster takes a long, grueling slog, sometimes taking a lifetime (in D&D time). But the result is worth it, because then you gain the capability to tilt the fate of the entire realm, or even multiverse! You perform a host of astonishing feats, far beyond the ability of any brave knight or acrobat! You lay waste to a prominent city in a matter of seconds, or protect the city against an assault that conventional defenses can't even dream of holding up against! There's so many great things you can do with 9th-level spells (and so many horrible things too), so let's figure out which one of these feats you would most likely want to pull off. Vote on the following poll. (Don't check more than 2 boxes).
*Wish not included
*Also includes only spells from the PHB, TCoE, and XGtE
*No niche utility spells that are adventure-specific
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Brains over brawn? Mind over matter? These canny warriors rightly answer, "Why not both?" - Tasha
TBH, none of them. The ones that I would conceivably vote for I would only vote for because they're the most powerful. Not because I particularly like them. That's the issue with all of these spells, as they are kind of boring in that sense, they either suck or are just powerful but not interesting. I'm putting blade of disaster tho, simply because it has saved my ass like 3 times whenever a certain hexblade warlock casted it.
Storm of vengeance is my personal favorite even if wish is included. Not because it's the most powerful, but because it's really cool. It really fits the druid thematically, allowing them to bring down the might of nature and level cities and armies from afar. It doesn't do much damage for its level by player standards, but when you consider that the area is absolutely massive and the average commoner only has 4 hp and the average soldier only has 16 hp, you realize that it's a pretty terrifying spell. Plus the range is sight, so the freak storm destroying the town could be caused by the pissed-off archdruid at the top of a mountain 30 miles away, and there's really no way to effectively retaliate or stop him.
Storm of vengeance is my personal favorite even if wish is included. Not because it's the most powerful, but because it's really cool. It really fits the druid thematically, allowing them to bring down the might of nature and level cities and armies from afar. It doesn't do much damage for its level by player standards, but when you consider that the area is absolutely massive and the average commoner only has 4 hp and the average soldier only has 16 hp, you realize that it's a pretty terrifying spell. Plus the range is sight, so the freak storm destroying the town could be caused by the pissed-off archdruid at the top of a mountain 30 miles away, and there's really no way to effectively retaliate or stop him.
You know, I was going to say "pshh", but you have talked me round.
Meteor Swarm is my favourite because of how it changes so much in the game world.
At face value, it's just a really big fireball - until you notice that it has a range of one mile. And suddenly, the way in which the BBEG is going to wage war on the characters changes, and that's really fun for the DM.
Recently my BBEG wizard got Scrying used on him by the PCs, and he used it back in return. He vaguely recognised their location. The next day, having recovered his spell slots from the big old ritual he's doing (which requires him to cast Gate for 3 days out of every 4, he then attempted to Teleport close to what he thought was their location. He and his 8 bodyguards suffered 2 Mishaps on the way, before arriving on target, but the PCs had already gone off elsewhere. His next Scrying showed they were camped in a forest, and so he couldn't locate them. So instead he took it out on a village of hillbillies they'd recently assisted by casting Meteor Swarm on the village at maximum range, completely destroying it. He then teleported back home.
This is the only way he's prepared to try to engage them right now. Why go toe to toe when you can nuke them from orbit?
It's a great way to show the players his power, it gives him tactical play, and repeatedly as they near the end of this arc, he'll be able to show up and try to rain hellfire down on them from the skies. It feels like a very different set up for combat. The only difficulty for me is in deciding whether he preps Meteor Swarm or Invulnerability on the days he doesn't need to cast Gate.
Hollow unbreakable arrows are the most OP common magic item, and my current method of coming up with insane combat shenanigans.
if you make a steel pipe with one end closed and a nozzle on the other, you can enlarge it, fill with any liquid, and then drop concentration, creating a high pressure squirt gun. (or a pipe bomb, depending if it holds)
Why didn't you include Wish, it is a spell that wizards/sorcerers can learn.
Because Wish is the most powerful spell in the game by a clear margin, and renders the question moot?
Alright, that seems reasonable, I do realize that wish would steal all of the votes from spells like true polymorph or meteor swarm, as wish can literally make a fully equipped and combat ready battleship appear at a moments notice.
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Hollow unbreakable arrows are the most OP common magic item, and my current method of coming up with insane combat shenanigans.
if you make a steel pipe with one end closed and a nozzle on the other, you can enlarge it, fill with any liquid, and then drop concentration, creating a high pressure squirt gun. (or a pipe bomb, depending if it holds)
Why didn't you include Wish, it is a spell that wizards/sorcerers can learn.
Because Wish is the most powerful spell in the game by a clear margin, and renders the question moot?
Alright, that seems reasonable, I do realize that wish would steal all of the votes from spells like true polymorph or meteor swarm, as wish can literally make a fully equipped and combat ready battleship appear at a moments notice.
:)
You might be thinking of previous incarnations of the spell Wish. In 5e it's still great, but a bit more restrained.
Foresight = 8 hours of "god mode" for your character. Unless you pick up Extend Spell via the Metamagic Adept feat. For a single sorcery point you can have 16 hours of Foresight!
My Archfey Warlock absolutely loved this spell; it paired quite well with Elven Accuracy.
I'd say Foresight is a winner but like so many other features it's better if you support it properly.
Prismatic Wall is rendered useless by a misty step, dimension door, arcane gate, far step, or thunderstep. Heck, a level 1 character with fey touched can get through it 100% of the time with 1 action. At least the main counterplay to true polymorph / shapechange requires using a 3rd level spell & succeeding on a DC 19 check, so you need to be at least level 5 for it to be possible + the odds are not great (only 7/20 chance and that's if you have a 20 on your spellcasting modifier) unless you use a 9th level spell slot for dispel magic, which requires level 17 + is a SUPER expensive counterplay.
Worse, AOE spells can go through a prismatic wall if they are targeted at its perimeter, so it doesn't offer protection from even a 3rd level fireball. Circling back to 9th level counterplay for 9th level spells, you can just drop a meteor swarm directly on the area protected by the prismatic barrier and everyone inside is screwed.
Point being, every 9th level spell has its weakness & counterplay but Primsatic Wall has a LOT, many of which are functional even to extremely low level characters. The only thing it really protects you from is a pure martial/ranged attaack character who does not have equipment or a nearby ally to teleport them across.
Prismatic Wall is rendered useless by a misty step, dimension door, arcane gate, far step, or thunderstep. Heck, a level 1 character with fey touched can get through it 100% of the time with 1 action. At least the main counterplay to true polymorph / shapechange requires using a 3rd level spell & succeeding on a DC 19 check, so you need to be at least level 5 for it to be possible + the odds are not great (only 7/20 chance and that's if you have a 20 on your spellcasting modifier) unless you use a 9th level spell slot for dispel magic, which requires level 17 + is a SUPER expensive counterplay.
Worse, AOE spells can go through a prismatic wall if they are targeted at its perimeter, so it doesn't offer protection from even a 3rd level fireball. Circling back to 9th level counterplay for 9th level spells, you can just drop a meteor swarm directly on the area protected by the prismatic barrier and everyone inside is screwed.
Point being, every 9th level spell has its weakness & counterplay but Primsatic Wall has a LOT, many of which are functional even to extremely low level characters. The only thing it really protects you from is a pure martial/ranged attaack character who does not have equipment or a nearby ally to teleport them across.
You have seriously mis-read the spell. It blocks both line of sight and the casting of any spell through the indigo layer. Blindsight negates the need for seeing, but truesight does NOT. Official Sage Advice (that is, given when Sage Advice was published by D&D, not just his tweet) is that range is the determinant. When you cast a spell nothing inside the prismatic wall is considered in the listed range of your spell and is unaffected. This protection vanishes right after you cast your spell. You may of course house rule otherwise, but that would be you house ruling.
Misty Step is stopped by Prismatic Wall unless you have blindsight. It takes a spell with a duration and a radius greater than 15 ft to be effective, usually. Dim Door is stopped cold by Prismatic Wall due to the Indigo layer. Same for Arcane Gate, Far step and thunder step and Meteor Swarm. All stopped by the Indigo layer.
There are a lot of spells that ignore Prismatic Wall, but the ones you mentioned do not. Otiluke Resieilent Sphere, Maelstrom, Teleport, Delayed Blast Fireball, for example.
In general, the low level spells are worthless against Prismatic Wall because of the low power (vs someone that can cast a 9th level slot) and the 30ft diameter. Hard to use Dragon breath because it only goes halfway into the sphere and does so low damage. The lowest spells (3rd level) I would consider worth casting are:
counterspell (if you are in range and can use it)
Hunger of Hadar
Sleet Storm
Spirit Guardians
Stinking Cloud
If you happen to have any of those 3rd level spells, you can use them effectively, but most people will still have good defenses against them. The rest of the cantrip-3rd level spells are basically worthless.
The problem is that even at higher levels most spells do not work so the victim is likely to have only one or two options prepared/useable.
Look at a random creature, like say a the standard lich. He can counterspell. If that fails this it's ONLY effective actions are the spell Cloudkill. and his Disrupt Life legendary action (uses 2 of three). And if you trap him inside the wall and stay 20 ft away, his disrupt life cannot be used, although he can planeshift away.
Finally, a solid tactic is to push/drag a creature through the wall multiple times. So even if they are immune to two layers and are resistant to another two, they still take damage and/or have to make saves vs petrification and over time it adds up.
Prismatic Wall is quite often a solid counter against many many creatures, even with its weaknesses. From practicaly experience, it is one of the very best 9th level spells.
Why didn't you include Wish, it is a spell that wizards/sorcerers can learn.
Because Wish is the most powerful spell in the game by a clear margin, and renders the question moot?
Wish is by definition NOT the best spell unless you are playing a one off game. In any game where you expect to play more than once the 33% chance of never casting it again means you only use it to cast 8th or lower spells. So power wise it is by definition one of the LOWEST 9th level spells. It makes up for some of that with versatility, but True Polymorph is almost as versatile. Never choose Wish as your fist 9th level spell unless you are doing a one off.
Prismatic Wall is rendered useless by a misty step, dimension door, arcane gate, far step, or thunderstep.
None of those work to get through Prismatic Wall, the wall is Opaque so Misty Step, Far Step and Thunderstep cannot be used b/c you have to SEE where you teleport to. Dimension Door and Arcane Gate technically don't work b/c of the 6th layer which states "While this layer is in place, spells can't be cast through the wall."
Dimension Door isn't being cast "through the wall", it just states that you appear somewhere within range of your choice. As for the other ones that you have to see, that depends on how it is positioned and whether it is a sphere vs a wall. And again, you can just cast a fireball 1 inch outside the outermost layer and it still affects people on the other side. Also, spells that alter the ground or the air are a thing :P
As someone who recently has gone on a warlock kick (they're just so customizable and thematic!) and is now a warlock fanatic (see what I did there?), as well as someone who likes playing support characters, I have to say: Foresight got my vote. I've never had the chance to use it, as the only time I broke tier 4 was as a barbarian/fighter, but I have a warlock I'm planning ot run long term and I hope they could grab it. might not fit on them since they're a fiendlock who wanted to be a GOOlock. long story.
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Hi, I'm Raccoon_Master, a young genderfluid actor, writer, explorer, and bass vocalist. Pronouns They/Them/Theirs
My Characters: Brorminthe Devout Crusher; Morgrom the Cunning Summoner;Theathe Rebellious Beauty;
9th-level spells? The apex in a spellcaster's might. Spellcaster's at this magnitude strive to become gods, and have nearly reached that goal! Becoming this type of spellcaster takes a long, grueling slog, sometimes taking a lifetime (in D&D time). But the result is worth it, because then you gain the capability to tilt the fate of the entire realm, or even multiverse! You perform a host of astonishing feats, far beyond the ability of any brave knight or acrobat! You lay waste to a prominent city in a matter of seconds, or protect the city against an assault that conventional defenses can't even dream of holding up against! There's so many great things you can do with 9th-level spells (and so many horrible things too), so let's figure out which one of these feats you would most likely want to pull off. Vote on the following poll. (Don't check more than 2 boxes).
*Wish not included
*Also includes only spells from the PHB, TCoE, and XGtE
*No niche utility spells that are adventure-specific
Brains over brawn? Mind over matter? These canny warriors rightly answer, "Why not both?" - Tasha
My Homebrews: Monsters, Magic Items, Spells, Races
Rhulg- Hobgoblin Gunsmith
True Polimorph/Shapechange, depends what you want to do. Or Prismatic Wall...it's not easy to choose only one.
I've had the privilege of playing a 20th level caster in a one-shot. Foresight was a fantastic use of my spell slot.
TBH, none of them. The ones that I would conceivably vote for I would only vote for because they're the most powerful. Not because I particularly like them. That's the issue with all of these spells, as they are kind of boring in that sense, they either suck or are just powerful but not interesting. I'm putting blade of disaster tho, simply because it has saved my ass like 3 times whenever a certain hexblade warlock casted it.
Er ek geng, þat er í þeim skóm er ek valda.
UwU
Storm of vengeance is my personal favorite even if wish is included. Not because it's the most powerful, but because it's really cool. It really fits the druid thematically, allowing them to bring down the might of nature and level cities and armies from afar. It doesn't do much damage for its level by player standards, but when you consider that the area is absolutely massive and the average commoner only has 4 hp and the average soldier only has 16 hp, you realize that it's a pretty terrifying spell. Plus the range is sight, so the freak storm destroying the town could be caused by the pissed-off archdruid at the top of a mountain 30 miles away, and there's really no way to effectively retaliate or stop him.
You know, I was going to say "pshh", but you have talked me round.
:)
Meteor Swarm is my favourite because of how it changes so much in the game world.
At face value, it's just a really big fireball - until you notice that it has a range of one mile. And suddenly, the way in which the BBEG is going to wage war on the characters changes, and that's really fun for the DM.
Recently my BBEG wizard got Scrying used on him by the PCs, and he used it back in return. He vaguely recognised their location. The next day, having recovered his spell slots from the big old ritual he's doing (which requires him to cast Gate for 3 days out of every 4, he then attempted to Teleport close to what he thought was their location. He and his 8 bodyguards suffered 2 Mishaps on the way, before arriving on target, but the PCs had already gone off elsewhere. His next Scrying showed they were camped in a forest, and so he couldn't locate them. So instead he took it out on a village of hillbillies they'd recently assisted by casting Meteor Swarm on the village at maximum range, completely destroying it. He then teleported back home.
This is the only way he's prepared to try to engage them right now. Why go toe to toe when you can nuke them from orbit?
It's a great way to show the players his power, it gives him tactical play, and repeatedly as they near the end of this arc, he'll be able to show up and try to rain hellfire down on them from the skies. It feels like a very different set up for combat. The only difficulty for me is in deciding whether he preps Meteor Swarm or Invulnerability on the days he doesn't need to cast Gate.
Why didn't you include Wish, it is a spell that wizards/sorcerers can learn.
Hollow unbreakable arrows are the most OP common magic item, and my current method of coming up with insane combat shenanigans.
if you make a steel pipe with one end closed and a nozzle on the other, you can enlarge it, fill with any liquid, and then drop concentration, creating a high pressure squirt gun. (or a pipe bomb, depending if it holds)
Because Wish is the most powerful spell in the game by a clear margin, and renders the question moot?
Invunerability is amazing when properly used. Throw in the right attack spell and you can destroy an army.
Alright, that seems reasonable, I do realize that wish would steal all of the votes from spells like true polymorph or meteor swarm, as wish can literally make a fully equipped and combat ready battleship appear at a moments notice.
Hollow unbreakable arrows are the most OP common magic item, and my current method of coming up with insane combat shenanigans.
if you make a steel pipe with one end closed and a nozzle on the other, you can enlarge it, fill with any liquid, and then drop concentration, creating a high pressure squirt gun. (or a pipe bomb, depending if it holds)
:)
You might be thinking of previous incarnations of the spell Wish. In 5e it's still great, but a bit more restrained.
Invulnerability is my favorite, but Foresight is a close second. They both have a downside and an upside, though.
Invulnerability: expensive "M" component, but you're immune to damage.
Foresight: 1 min casting time, but almost every roll you make has advantage, and attackers have disadvantage.
My conclusion: These are both extremely powerful spells.
i am a human being.
Foresight = 8 hours of "god mode" for your character. Unless you pick up Extend Spell via the Metamagic Adept feat. For a single sorcery point you can have 16 hours of Foresight!
My Archfey Warlock absolutely loved this spell; it paired quite well with Elven Accuracy.
I'd say Foresight is a winner but like so many other features it's better if you support it properly.
Behind every successful Warlock, there's an angry mob.
Prismatic Wall is rendered useless by a misty step, dimension door, arcane gate, far step, or thunderstep. Heck, a level 1 character with fey touched can get through it 100% of the time with 1 action. At least the main counterplay to true polymorph / shapechange requires using a 3rd level spell & succeeding on a DC 19 check, so you need to be at least level 5 for it to be possible + the odds are not great (only 7/20 chance and that's if you have a 20 on your spellcasting modifier) unless you use a 9th level spell slot for dispel magic, which requires level 17 + is a SUPER expensive counterplay.
Worse, AOE spells can go through a prismatic wall if they are targeted at its perimeter, so it doesn't offer protection from even a 3rd level fireball. Circling back to 9th level counterplay for 9th level spells, you can just drop a meteor swarm directly on the area protected by the prismatic barrier and everyone inside is screwed.
Point being, every 9th level spell has its weakness & counterplay but Primsatic Wall has a LOT, many of which are functional even to extremely low level characters. The only thing it really protects you from is a pure martial/ranged attaack character who does not have equipment or a nearby ally to teleport them across.
You have seriously mis-read the spell. It blocks both line of sight and the casting of any spell through the indigo layer. Blindsight negates the need for seeing, but truesight does NOT. Official Sage Advice (that is, given when Sage Advice was published by D&D, not just his tweet) is that range is the determinant. When you cast a spell nothing inside the prismatic wall is considered in the listed range of your spell and is unaffected. This protection vanishes right after you cast your spell. You may of course house rule otherwise, but that would be you house ruling.
Misty Step is stopped by Prismatic Wall unless you have blindsight. It takes a spell with a duration and a radius greater than 15 ft to be effective, usually. Dim Door is stopped cold by Prismatic Wall due to the Indigo layer. Same for Arcane Gate, Far step and thunder step and Meteor Swarm. All stopped by the Indigo layer.
There are a lot of spells that ignore Prismatic Wall, but the ones you mentioned do not. Otiluke Resieilent Sphere, Maelstrom, Teleport, Delayed Blast Fireball, for example.
In general, the low level spells are worthless against Prismatic Wall because of the low power (vs someone that can cast a 9th level slot) and the 30ft diameter. Hard to use Dragon breath because it only goes halfway into the sphere and does so low damage. The lowest spells (3rd level) I would consider worth casting are:
If you happen to have any of those 3rd level spells, you can use them effectively, but most people will still have good defenses against them. The rest of the cantrip-3rd level spells are basically worthless.
The problem is that even at higher levels most spells do not work so the victim is likely to have only one or two options prepared/useable.
Look at a random creature, like say a the standard lich. He can counterspell. If that fails this it's ONLY effective actions are the spell Cloudkill. and his Disrupt Life legendary action (uses 2 of three). And if you trap him inside the wall and stay 20 ft away, his disrupt life cannot be used, although he can planeshift away.
Finally, a solid tactic is to push/drag a creature through the wall multiple times. So even if they are immune to two layers and are resistant to another two, they still take damage and/or have to make saves vs petrification and over time it adds up.
Prismatic Wall is quite often a solid counter against many many creatures, even with its weaknesses. From practicaly experience, it is one of the very best 9th level spells.
Wish is by definition NOT the best spell unless you are playing a one off game. In any game where you expect to play more than once the 33% chance of never casting it again means you only use it to cast 8th or lower spells. So power wise it is by definition one of the LOWEST 9th level spells. It makes up for some of that with versatility, but True Polymorph is almost as versatile. Never choose Wish as your fist 9th level spell unless you are doing a one off.
None of those work to get through Prismatic Wall, the wall is Opaque so Misty Step, Far Step and Thunderstep cannot be used b/c you have to SEE where you teleport to. Dimension Door and Arcane Gate technically don't work b/c of the 6th layer which states "While this layer is in place, spells can't be cast through the wall."
Dimension Door isn't being cast "through the wall", it just states that you appear somewhere within range of your choice. As for the other ones that you have to see, that depends on how it is positioned and whether it is a sphere vs a wall. And again, you can just cast a fireball 1 inch outside the outermost layer and it still affects people on the other side. Also, spells that alter the ground or the air are a thing :P
As someone who recently has gone on a warlock kick (they're just so customizable and thematic!) and is now a warlock fanatic (see what I did there?), as well as someone who likes playing support characters, I have to say: Foresight got my vote. I've never had the chance to use it, as the only time I broke tier 4 was as a barbarian/fighter, but I have a warlock I'm planning ot run long term and I hope they could grab it. might not fit on them since they're a fiendlock who wanted to be a GOOlock. long story.
Hi, I'm Raccoon_Master, a young genderfluid actor, writer, explorer, and bass vocalist. Pronouns They/Them/Theirs
My Characters: Brormin the Devout Crusher; Morgrom the Cunning Summoner; Thea the Rebellious Beauty;
Check out my EXTENDED SIGNATUR and don’t forget to join the Anything but the OGL 2.0 Thread!
"I don't make sense to you, and I don't make sense to myself. Maybe the only one I make sense to is God" ~ Me, trying to sound smart