Level
Cantrip
Casting Time
1 Action
Range/Area
30 ft
Components
S
Duration
Concentration
1 Round
School
Divination
Attack/Save
None
Damage/Effect
Foreknowledge
You point a finger at a target in range. Your magic grants you a brief insight into the target's defenses. On your next turn, you gain advantage on your first attack roll against the target, provided that this spell hasn't ended.
Wait, I just realized you'd have advantage from hiding anyway. Nevermind.
Looking at this spell it really should have
target has disadvantage on attack rolls made towards you for the duration.
it would make true strike thematically relevant cantrip and is a very simple adition. in old additions of dnd it was a +20 to hit and you could cast it on allies. that is a bit op. but having it be a defensive spell with it's very limited advantage would make it comparable to blade ward. a divination specialist would therefore be able to survive encounters and use their spell attacks a bit more effectively. since this cantrip is a personal shove attack essentially with no save it really doesn't need much more utility than i described. Sorcerers can make good use of this spell using sorcery points. bonus action casting it while still throwing out spells especially of the evocation variety
You're not understanding that you can sense where a creature is by other means than sight (hearing, etc). As long as the creature is not "hidden" (by taking the hide action), even if it has full cover or is not seen, you know its placement on the battlefield. Spells specifically say when a target needs to be seen by saying so in the spell description. Those descriptions are very deliberate. If you require the target to be seen just because it uses the word target, you're just misunderstanding the rules and interpreting this incorrectly. Also you'd be nerfing a spell that is already nearly useless.
Or cast faerie fire for advantage and do 4 attacks or cast hold person for 4 attacks with advantage and auto crits
I guess the exception to that would be if you know a creature is hiding behind a wall in front of you or something
I really can see it work with a charisma character such as bard and warlock.
Bard making a performance, and ending up pointing at his target, unbeknown of it using True Strike to prepare a full blow assault on it next turn, with a coordinated strike with it team.
Warlock in a debate, pointing an accusing finger just before to actually attack...
Get them College of the Sword and Pact of the blade, Oh, Mamma.
Multiclass are great too. A rogue with a level of whatever of those classes could get it, and as there is no dices to roll not increase with level, it basically work just fine with only a first level. A pure somatic can be really discreet, and pointing a finger can technically even be done with hands in pockets, or doing something else as carrying something.
Niche, but excellent to gain an advantage on a first blow. Or to take advantage of a cover and prepare a devastating strike with a specific weapon. Arrow of slaying coming in mind.
I think I see some usefulness to this spell that hasn't been mentioned.
If you're playing a bard, you may be casting Healing Word a fair amount. And on such a turn, your Action options would be a bit limited. The only damaging cantrip available to bards in the Player's Handbook is Vicious Mockery, which is relatively weak. And once your party members get Extra Attack a single physical attack will also be relatively weak. So I think it would be quite reasonable for a bard to cast Healing Word and True Strike on their turn in order to support their party and set themselves up for a useful attack the next round.
It would similarly useful for a cleric who managed to learn it because they have Bonus Action spells like Sanctuary and Spiritual Weapon (though clerics do often have better non-spell Action options than bards).
I agree.
Imagine attacking an invisible enemy that is not hidden (did not take the hide action after the last attack). The player knows where the invisible creature is, even though the creature is unseen due to its invisibility. The invisible condition specifically says "attack rolls against the creature have disadvantage" which means that invisible creatures can be targeted, even though they still remain unseen.
The spell description always specifically says whether the target has to be seen. For instance, the description of magic missile says "each dart hits a creature of your choice that you can see within range". Otherwise, magic missile would be a very good counter against casters using invisibility spells, as the missiles would hit automatically and each hit requires a concentration check.
True strike can be used against invisible targets (that are not hidden) to balance the usual disadvantage of attacking invisible creatures. Another useful application for the cantrip.
Eldritch Knight. War Magic allows you to cast a cantrip in place of one of the attacks you make as part of the Attack action. You would be trading speed for accuracy, gaining advantage on one attack roll while sacrificng a single attack. Gaining advantage is perfect for builds that include Great Weapon Master or Sharpshooter.
It seems to work, but only on every other turn, because True Strike is a concentration spell - it ends as soon as you cast another concentration spell - and it affects the attack only on your next turn.
For example, on the first turn, the EK casts True Strike and starts to concentrate, then makes a normal attack as a bonus action. However, this attack is not affected by advantage, as True Strike takes effect "on your next turn". On the next turn, if the EK uses the attack action or uses a spell which requires attack roll, the first roll is with advantage. However, if the action is used for attacking or casting a spell, then True Strike cannot be cast this turn. If instead the EK would cast True Strike again in hopes of using the War Magic feature, the previous concentration would end and the EK would lose the advantage this turn as the spell ended before any attack was made.
So the only solution would be: on the 1st turn - cast True Strike + BA attack; on the 2nd make the first attack with advantage; on the 3rd turn cast True Strike + BA attack; on the 4th turn make the first attack with advantage and so on. Once the EK gains three attacks per turn, this tactic loses its appeal.
doesnt specify you need to be able to see it. as long as you point AT it, you're all good.
terrible spell ngl
It's a trap!
With Steady Aim, rogues can generate advantage by spending their bonus action and sacrificing their movement. If the spell was cast on a bonus action, you'd be spending that bonus action and a cantrip pick, which seems fair. I still don't thin it would be worth taking in most cases, but maybe it wouldn't be complete trash.
.
Wow, it's been eight years since 5e premiered and this cantrip is still completely trash-tier
But why not just attack this turn, and again next turn?
It literally has the same effect, and you dont have to waste concentration on it
i mean this could work, but in the rules as written you wont get your benefit until next round meaning even if you attack as a bonus action it still doesn't get advantage.
Correct me if im being dumb
Pretty useless cantrip.
Only useful if you're staging an ambush; other than that, it's better to make two actions in those two turns.
Waste of a cantrip, honestly.
To fix it, they just need to:
1. Make it a BA
and/or
2. Remove <C> requirement
Too many other classes (free action from rogue, etc...) and options (pet, familiar, etc...) give an advantage on a target to use this/ have memorized.
Hands down the worst spell in the game. Unbelievably bad. DO NOT waste one of your limited cantrips options on this spell. Choose literally anything else.
Casting this spell is literally worse than doing nothing. It's much better to take the dodge action than to cast this spell.
It's concentration. Oftentimes, cantrips are what you cast after you cast your big gun, encounter-changing concentration spell like hypnotic pattern, web, or wall of force. Can't do that with this spell, you gotta drop concentration on whatever other spell you might be concentrating on. (literally any other spell is better to concentrate on)
WHY is it a concentration spell? It lasts one round. It has no persistent effect. It grants one instance of advantage. That's it.
It says you point a finger at a target in range, then your attack roll against that target specifically has advantage. So if on the next round the there's a better target, you can't change your mind and decide to have advantage against that target instead. Presumably it also means that you have to at least be aware of your target, so it's not like you can spam cast it on yourself before you encounter an enemy to give yourself advantage on your first attack in combat.
It also only benefit's you on the round after you cast it, so Bladesingers or other classes that can cast cantrips and attack in the same turn can't benefit from that.
Even if all those things weren't issues, there's the simple problem that making 2 regular attack rolls is better than making one attack roll with advantage 95% of the time. Advantage is nice, but making one attack roll at advantage is NOT worth using your entire turn for. Crap spell.
this entire spell could be fixed simply by making it a bonus action to cast and either keeping the concentration and making it useable in the casting round, or (personal favourite) by dropping the concentration and making its range self. even then, i'd still say that both of those options would still be weaker in most situations compared to just using your bonus action to attack again with dual wielding. a third, more powerful, option would be using your action and dropping your speed to 0 to give yourself advantage on all your attacks on the next round or on your next turn but, even with casting time taking up half of the standard combat length and making you immobile, that sounds more like something that would require a spell slot.
if you think this would be too strong, here is my defence(s); for the first two options at least:
the only people who get access to true strike are specific full spellcasters, characters who multiclass into specific spellcasters, characters who forgo both taking an ability score increase and one of the many more useful feats, the tertiary casters like arcane trickster and eldritch knight, or someone who specifically plays a high elven wizard. i certainly hope that whoever is reading this agrees that all of these choices are significant if you're doing it just to get advantage on a single, specifically your first, attack roll.
additionally, there are so many other better ways to get advantage in dnd; samurai fighter (bonus action for advantage on all of your attacks in the current turn, which for a fighter is a lot), being a rogue and using a bonus action (granted, you make your speed 0 for the rest of that turn, but if you're in a situation where you're having to use that feature to get your sneak attack off i don't think you'd have all that much attachment to running away), being a mastermind rogue and using a bonus action to take the help action, the help action, having a familiar use the help action (which is both easily expendable and pretty much all it's good for in combat for most people unless you're a potclock or are trying to use bs real world physics to end your encounters instantly), blinding your opponent, optional flanking rules, being a kobald, being hidden, inflicting almost any status effect onto your opponent, being in darkness with devils sight, using any of the myriad of spells that just tack advantage onto the end as if it was an afterthought, just getting it from the conditions in the current battlefield, being invisible; and the list probably still goes on.