It's time to add a new spell to your Wizard spellbook. You look at the culmination of your continued arcane research splayed out before you: incantations that can rewrite reality, powers that can obliterate hordes of monsters, and other endless possibilities of magic. How do you decide which spell to add to your repertoire?

Below, we'll take a look at ten of our favorite spells for the Wizards in D&D. When you’re ready to shape your own spell-slinging scholar, head over to the Character Builder and start crafting your Wizard today!

• 1. Counterspell
• 2. Dispel Magic
• 3. Find Familiar
• 4. Fireball
• 5. Glyph of Warding
• 6. Leomund's Tiny Hut
• 7. Prestidigitation
• 8. Scrying
• 9. Shield
• 10. Wall of Force

The Best Spells for Your Wizard Are Up to You

In D&D, we tell stories about unique characters with individual personalities and goals, and we, as players, have our own preferred playstyles. What's best for your character is for you to decide!

A spell might make this list because it's fun, practical, or is simply a great opportunity to be creative, but there are tons of spells out there that your character might want to use instead.

Top 10 Spells for Wizards

1. Counterspell

Level 3 Abjuration

Spells like Cone of Cold can decimate weakened adventurers, while spells like Hold Person and Hypnotic Pattern can incapacitate key party members and ruin your plans. When you're tangling with an enemy spellcaster, countering their magic can immediately turn the tide of the battle in your favor.

Counterspell allows you to magically interrupt a creature casting a spell, potentially causing said spell to dissipate with no effect. There are some caveats to this—the target must be casting the spell with Verbal, Somatic, or Material components within Counterspell's range—but the potential to disrupt an enemy's devastating magic can be well worth it.

A Wizard doesn't need healing magic when they can counterspell a Fireball!

2. Dispel Magic

Level 3 Abjuration

Dispel Magic is a useful spell, both in and out of combat. If you're sneaking into an enemy's lair, dispelling their Alarm, Arcane Lock, or Glyph of Warding spells can make your entrance much easier. Similarly, if an enemy casts Mirror Image or Fire Shield upon themselves or their allies, you can call upon your own mastery of the arcane arts to dispel their defensive spells.

Dispel Magic allows you to choose any creature, object, or magical effect within the spell's range, ending any ongoing spell of level 3 or lower on the target. If your target has a level 4 or higher spell active, you instead make an ability check using your spellcasting ability with DC equal to 10 + the spell's level. On a successful check, the spell ends.

If you're scared of potentially wasting a level 3 spell slot, you can also upcast Dispel Magic to automatically end a higher-level spell on the target—as long as it's equal to or less than the level of the spell slot you use.

3. Find Familiar

Artist: BRIAN VALEZA

Level 1 Conjuration

Who doesn't want a loyal sidekick? With Find Familiar, you can summon a Celestial, Fey, or Fiend spirit that takes the form of a small animal and will obey your commands. When you cast Find Familiar, you can choose your familiar's form from a list of Small and Tiny Beast shapes, such as a Cat, Rat, or Raven.

Familiars are very helpful when exploring a new environment. You have a telepathic connection with your familiar while they are within 100 feet, so when your familiar is flying overhead or sneaking into a hidden room, you can communicate with it and can choose to see and hear through its eyes and ears as a Bonus Action.

During combat, the familiar can't attack, but it can take other actions as normal, including the Help action to assist you or your allies on an ability check or attack roll. Also, when you cast a spell with a range of touch, the familiar can deliver the touch using its Reaction—as long as it is within 100 feet of you.

Familiars can also be fun to roleplay. Whether you make them adorable, cute, weird, or silly, a loyal animal companion can be enjoyable to have around. Plus, if you have 10 minutes of free time, you can cast Find Familiar as a Ritual, thereby not having to expend a spell slot.

So, what are you waiting for? Summon a familiar in Frog form and give it a goofy name—and maybe a tiny hat.

4. Fireball

Level 3 Evocation

Ah, the notorious Fireball. This spell is exactly as straightforward as it sounds. A fiery blast erupts in a 20-foot sphere at a point you choose within range and deals massive damage to everything caught within its blast radius (and, of course, igniting all flammable objects). Use Fireball to clear a room of smaller minions in a dungeon, target clusters of incoming monsters while you're still at range, or simply to make a memorable entrance into a climactic battle.

Fireball is an appealing option whether you're a Wizard who prioritizes dealing damage or the type of Wizard who just wants a couple destructive spells in case of emergency.

5. Glyph of Warding

Level 3 Abjuration

Glyph of Warding allows you to inscribe a glyph onto an object or surface—or within an object that can be closed—that later unleashes a magical effect.

When you cast the spell, you set the conditions of its trigger, such as touching, approaching, or even noticing the glyph. You can get creative here, including setting a password or condition that doesn't cause the glyph to trigger. You'll want to use this spell to protect a stationary item or a location, as the glyph is broken if the object or surface it is cast upon is moved more than 10 feet from where you cast this spell.

When the glyph is triggered, it can explode in a 20-foot radius sphere centered on the glyph, or it can cast a spell of your choosing that you cast as part of creating the glyph. Normally, you can store a prepared spell of level 3 or lower, but, when you upcast this spell, you can store any spell of up to the same level as the spell slot you use for the Glyph of Warding.

Here are some potential options to help inspire your creative casting of this spell:

• A Suggestion spell can instruct thieves to drop their equipment and not return.
• A spell that summons creatures to attack your foes can help guard an area while you're out adventuring. Summon Fey and Conjure Elemental can be useful for this purpose, but there are plenty to choose from, so pick your favorite!
• When protecting the party during a Long Rest in a dangerous place, consider spells like Slow or Web to hamper creatures who try to ambush you. (Picking non-damaging spells can also help ensure that you don't accidentally harm creatures who trigger the glyph without ill intent.)

6. Leomund's Tiny Hut

Level 3 Evocation

Leomund's Tiny Hut creates a 10-foot Emanation around you that protects and conceals you and your allies. This Emanation remains stationary from when you cast it, and all creatures and objects within the Emanation when you cast the spell can freely move through its boundaries (although the spell ends if the caster leaves the Emanation).

Leomund's Tiny Hut is an excellent spell to protect the party during a Short or Long Rest in unknown or dangerous territory because all other creatures cannot see, move, or make weapon attacks through it. Also, spells of level 3 or lower can't be cast through it, and the effects of such spells can't extend into it.

Note that while spells of level 4 or higher can pass through the Emanation, it is still opaque to those looking in, so enemy casters cannot target creatures inside the Emanation if their spells require them to see their target.

What makes Leomund's Tiny Hut such an excellent advantage for your party is that it is transparent from the inside, allowing protected party members to observe any dangers surrounding the Emanation.

If enemies approach, your party's ranged attackers can even fire at them from inside the Emanation, and at higher levels, casters can sling spells like Chain Lightning or Cone of Cold from within the Emanation's protection.

7. Prestidigitation

Transmutation Cantrip

Prestidigitation is a versatile cantrip that provides you with a handful of useful tricks. Some, such as lighting candles with a gesture or conjuring a harmless shower of sparks, can thrill and delight. Others, like the Minor Sensation option, can make the day-to-day experience of adventuring more luxurious for your character.

These minor-yet-handy tricks can help stimulate your creativity; Use the Clean or Soil option to instantly soil clothing for a more believable disguise or use the Sensory Effects option as part of a distraction.

My personal favorite use of the spell is the Minor Creation option, which allows you to create a “nonmagical trinket or illusory image that can fit in your hand” that lasts until the end of your next turn. The trinket has no monetary worth, but perhaps you'll find it valuable when you flash it to a suspicious guard in the form of an exclusive invitation or badge of authority.

8. Scrying

Level 5 Divination

What adventuring party doesn't want to spy on their enemies?

With Scrying, you can attempt to secretly and remotely view any creature or location on the same plane of existence as you. This magic is well-known in popular fantasy and folklore, often using a mirror, bowl of water, or crystal ball—and in fact, this spell requires an expensive Material component of that nature.

If you are targeting a creature, it makes a Wisdom saving throw modified by how well you know it and your physical connection to it. For example:

• If you know the target well and have a lock of its hair, they will get -15 on their saving throw against the spell.
• But if you have only heard of the target and have no items related to it, they will receive +5 instead.

On a failed save, the spell creates an invisible magical sensor that you can see and hear through. It hovers within 10 feet of the target for 10 minutes, allowing you to sleuth out anything that the creature is saying or doing.

Make sure to pick your Scrying targets wisely, however. When you need to spy on a villain but haven't met them personally, consider targeting their less-powerful lieutenants that you've encountered firsthand instead, especially if you know they'll be delivering a report to their superiors at a certain time.

If your campaign has politicking or intrigue, or if your villain is up to dastardly plans and you want to stay a step ahead, you'll find Scrying very useful.

9. Shield

Artist: BILLY CHRISTIAN

Level 1 Abjuration

Many Wizards, in practical recognition of the fact that they cannot (generally) continue casting spells once they are dead, opt to learn the Shield spell at some point in their adventuring career.

Shield allows you to conjure an imperceptible barrier of magical force to protect yourself from attacks. When you are hit by an attack roll or targeted by the Magic Missile spell, you can cast Shield as a Reaction to take no damage from Magic Missile and gain +5 to your AC until the start of your next turn, potentially causing the attack to miss. This duration will be particularly useful when you're facing a monster with Multiattack or a swarm of enemies who might attack you throughout the round.

10. Wall of Force

Level 5 Evocation

If you've ever wanted to reshape a battlefield to your advantage, effortlessly bypass traps, or conjure comprehensive defenses, Wall of Force may just be for you.

When you cast this spell, you create ten 10-foot-by-10-foot Invisible panels in an orientation of your choosing, dividing the battlefield as you see fit, as long as the panels are continuous. This allows you to block ranged enemies from firing at your party or separate a group of freshly summoned minions from the rest of the battle. And if an encounter is going poorly, you can use this spell to buy time to retreat!

The best part is that the wall is immune to all damage and can't be dispelled by Dispel Magic, though a Disintegrate spell can destroy the wall. The wall also extends into the Ethereal Plane and blocks ethereal travel through the wall—very useful if you're being chased by Ghosts.

Wall of Force often has out-of-battle applications as well. If a chasm is 100 feet across or less, you can summon panels to cross safely to your destination. You may also be able to neutralize or avoid traps or aid in solving puzzles by creatively placing the panels created by this spell.

Time to Choose Your Spells!

Will you learn spells that help you control the battlefield, obliterate your foes, explore new regions, or gather information? When you've got your spellbook in one hand and your “spells to learn” wish list in the other, you're ready to make your Wizard.

Grab your dice, don your robes, and open up the D&D Beyond Character Builder to get started!

Damen Cook (@damen_joseph) is a lifelong fantasy reader, writer, and gamer. If he woke up tomorrow in Faerûn, he would bolt through the nearest fey crossing and drink from every stream and eat fruit from every tree in the Feywild until he found that sweet, sweet wild magic.