"I'd like to cast Find Trap." "...you just cast one."
@yggdra1477
3 жыл бұрын
unrealistic you wouldn't get such a precise information from casting it
@williamchristy9463
3 жыл бұрын
I'd like to cast find clam.
@muddlewait8844
2 жыл бұрын
Brutal. Top-tier comment.
@RJWhitmore
Жыл бұрын
I would argue this spell is far more effective than you may think; just by looking at the spell in the book it works - no spell slot required. Amazing.
@braxsensindelar1910
Жыл бұрын
I'd like to cast find who asked.
@godminnette2
3 жыл бұрын
I had to pause and cackle at the "be sure to include your address so I can come and slap you." Absolutely savage, Chris.
@poilboiler
3 жыл бұрын
Will the slap hit without True Strike?
@g_ninja
3 жыл бұрын
4:45
@jackcantdraw
3 жыл бұрын
That bit was great!
@reedsmith8975
3 жыл бұрын
*Upcasts Searing Smite*
@japphan
3 жыл бұрын
I laughed so hard my sore back reminded me what pain is.
@unnefer001
3 жыл бұрын
Dentist: So how did you lose that tooth? Me: I defended frost fingers online and Chris slapped the shit out of me. Dentist: Sounds like you deserved it.
@TreantmonksTemple
3 жыл бұрын
You have a good dentist.
@TainakaRicchan
3 жыл бұрын
The "saving grace" of frost finger is that it doesls a slighly better damage type then burning hands. Should only be taken by evoker that, for some reason, want to specialize in cold damage, for whatever reason, though. Everyone else jsut take thunderwave please...
@kaemonbonet4931
3 жыл бұрын
Dentist: get out of my office
@Amrylin1337
3 жыл бұрын
@@TainakaRicchan Or we could agree that the balance of the game and elements is completely arbitrary and NOT by design.
@TainakaRicchan
3 жыл бұрын
@@Amrylin1337 I sometiems think that the designer simply dont think through what their design entails. For what its worth: I think Snillocs snowball storm is actually the far worse spell comapred to frost fingers. doesnt make frost finger good though
@IndirectLemon
3 жыл бұрын
I'd add a caveat to frost fingers. In an underwater campaign freezing a cone of water is significant... I don't know if swimming inside the area counts as "wearing" the water but it'll definitely be stronger than burning hands underwater. VERY situational.
@raymondsandalphonrahon6124
3 жыл бұрын
Include your address
@danielbutka8854
3 жыл бұрын
Or you could just cast thunderwave and get a knockback effect
@Pyrela
3 жыл бұрын
Actually, if you freeze all the water around a target wouldn't that 'insta-kill' a lot of stuff? I mean, they would run out of oxygen very quickly and it would take a long time for that much ice to thaw. And anything that could hold their breath for a really long time or doesn't need to breathe would still be taken out of the fight for a very extended period of time. Actually seems super powerful in an underwater scenario.
@IndirectLemon
3 жыл бұрын
@@Pyrela That was my point, in an underwater situation the rider of freezing liquid is strong. Plus there are combinations with spells like create water that could generate a 5ft cube of water and then you freeze it. Personally I wouldn't let a 1st level spell insta-kill without a save or anything, it seems better to treat it as a grappled/restrained situation. (if they're on the edge of the cone, grappled, as the ice holds them in place, if they're completely enveloped in ice then restrained) Technically the freeze does not have a duration, as it's instantaneous, however it will melt eventually. I'd imagine that you could use a strength check to break free of the ice and the DC would be the spellcasters spell DC. Even low-con characters are rarely at risk of drowning in dnd. The rules for suffocation mean that if you envelop someone in ice they've got a handful of rounds to make strength checks to break free, which is still strong for a 1st level spell and still very strong crowd control. Comparing it to burning hands, 3d6 (11) to 2d8 (9) the tradeoff in damage for restrain is fantastic. If you're not underwater though it is strictly worse.
@fahdpar23
2 жыл бұрын
@@IndirectLemon ice floats too, so it could also move entrapped opponents out of combat range, as they drift upwards towards the surface, or with the current
@LumenPlacidum
3 жыл бұрын
Some terrible spells are useful for that reason. If I want the party to have a moment of "uh oh" when fighting a mage, I might have the mage use Power Word Pain on one of them. "Wait, they just used a 7th level slot on us?" It's a moment where you don't wreck the party but still sketch a power level.
@Hilianus
3 жыл бұрын
The problem is that there is no official distinction between DM spells and Player spells. Hell, most of the stinkers on this list are in the PLAYER'S handbook! I would be absolutely fine with existence of very situational, low-power NPC spells that PCs don't have access to because they are worse than "adventuring" spells or because they are too specific. "Ziguerro's Find Nearest Beehive" or "Greta's Painless Abortion" can easily exist in the setting, but why even mention them to the players?
@Amrylin1337
3 жыл бұрын
A really poor excuse for a bad spell to be published though. The same is said about other poorly designed features.
@tyleremery7088
3 жыл бұрын
@@naddarr1 Or if someone just wants a cool flaming sword for the aesthetic.
@Amrylin1337
3 жыл бұрын
@@naddarr1 But the DM shouldn't need to explain these things. They should just do it. Having it there and accessible for a player in the *Player's Handbook* is asinine.
@agilemind6241
2 жыл бұрын
@@Hilianus Exactly, there are so many DM spells that are great as DM spells but are either broken or pathetic in the hands of players. Power Word Pain, Simulacrum, Clone, Circle of Death, Magic Jar - all fantastic DM spells, but should not be used by players.
@WA705
3 жыл бұрын
The verbal component of Power Word Pain is "I think I'm going to learn Power Word Pain."
@Platypusb1ll
3 жыл бұрын
The devs just categorically tend to overvalue spells that deal damage across multiple turns; it often takes 3 rounds, your concentration, and repeat saves to deal about as much damage as an instantaneous blast spell would have done in the first round.
@moto2442
3 жыл бұрын
They think they all are spirit guardians. But they also nerfed spirit guardians and moonbeam (by preventing damage by having the effect move past an enemy) which is dumb af. Because damage spells are so weak past 3rd level.
@Erik-um1zn
2 жыл бұрын
So true. So very true.
@OnlineSarcasmFails
2 жыл бұрын
@@moto2442 Until meteor swarm anyways.
@moto2442
2 жыл бұрын
@@OnlineSarcasmFails Yes, but it's very rare to use the spell slot on meteor swarm because instead you generally take wish.
@greygramarye7872
3 жыл бұрын
Legend Lore is something you use during downtime to advance the story or collect otherwise unavailable info. Like for instance, my party has used it a few times to figure out how to destroy a lich’s phylactery.
@maradagian
3 жыл бұрын
Or to play a charlatan sorcerer without having to do It. *Subtlespells Legend Lore -I'll Tell YOU about the
@anthonynorman7545
3 жыл бұрын
I agree. I think it could have its place, especially with a DM that doesn't treat the players like protagonists
@novaiscool1
3 жыл бұрын
@@anthonynorman7545 or even in a game where you are treated like a protagonist, this can be useful as a way to get more information than the NPCs can/would give you.
@jmass4207
2 жыл бұрын
If your dm giving you a fair shot to find information related to main plot lines is “protagonist service” then I guess there’s a whole class of dm I want nothing to do with. For side projects and goals however I could see legend lore nicely facilitating things that would only be remotely possible or take a lot of your downtime.
@Akut324
2 жыл бұрын
@@jmass4207 Some DMs give you a large sandbox with no clear "main" plot. It can be fairly engaging and interesting when done correctly of course. Like most things it mostly comes down to execution.
@evannewell7985
3 жыл бұрын
These spells are all terrible. I would put Legend Lore in the category of Dream of the Blue Veil though... it's pretty obviously presented as a plot device, to be used during downtime.
@dragonhearthx8369
3 жыл бұрын
Prismatic spray should only be taken by a scribe wizard so that he can use his "change damage type" ability for 7th level spells.
@benjoffe948
3 жыл бұрын
Taken? Yes, learn it. Prepare it for actual use? N O P E. You know a spell is pretty worthless when the only use for it is changing damage types by being a Scribes Wizard.
@dragonhearthx8369
3 жыл бұрын
@@benjoffe948 it's the same reason my chromatic orb, dragon's breath, elemental weapon, and elemental bane should be taken
@nicka3697
3 жыл бұрын
You know a spell is really worthless when the scribes wizard only puts it in his spell book for his One with the Word ability. "I have to lose 16 levels of spells for up to 6 days. I cross out weird, find traps and legend lore."👍
@bahhumbug2072
3 жыл бұрын
@@nicka3697 You are a genius and i bow to your experience Master Alldridge.
@benjoffe948
3 жыл бұрын
@@dragonhearthx8369 I mean, IIRC Dragon's Breath isn't too bad a spell, but yea, that's def another use for those spells (don't quite remember if those spells other than DBreath are OK or not)
@NopeRyan
3 жыл бұрын
Chris is spicy here and I’m here for it. Get at it my dude.
@RandomToon1
3 жыл бұрын
Mordenkainen's Sword - proving yet again why he isn't Raistlin or Elminster.
@mikebieser4175
3 жыл бұрын
There is one legitimate use case of True Strike, on a level 10 Eldritch Knight using Great Weapon Master and a blade cantrip with 20 STR and INT of 13 or lower. The most important facet of True Strike is the 30 ft range. Melee martial characters will have times when they just can’t quite get into melee with an enemy, and they usually have to throw a javelin for negligible damage. An eldritch knight, however, can cast a cantrip and make an attack as a bonus action, so what cantrip will do the most damage? Well, if you are confident that next turn you will be able to enter melee with an enemy, the expected extra damage from having advantage is greater than the expected damage from a firebolt by about 2 points, depending on enemy AC. So, for one highly specific character build (specific, but not a bad build by any means) and a somewhat uncommon situation, True Strike is optimal if you use it as a ranged attack. It is not viable as a substitute for the attack action. Still a trap of a spell.
@andrewbowser9326
3 жыл бұрын
I could sort of see a case for true strike if your playing as a wizard with a nuke paladin... but that's about it
@migueldelmazo5244
3 жыл бұрын
Angry, snarky Chris is the best Chris. Great video.
@apocrypha5363
3 жыл бұрын
I think Skywrite is my favourite spell. There's a lot of niche uses for it: Advertising for a business, communicating with lost party members, threatening to reveal the location of an enemy base, freaking out random townsfolk by writing 'We are discovered, flee immediately' in the sky above their town... and whenever I manage to actually get use out of it, it feels so good because it's seen as such a useless spell!
@bigdream_dreambig
3 жыл бұрын
I actually used it in one of my backstories on a spell scroll. I needed a low-level way for someone to immediately send a written message to a person who was probably 500 or 1000 feet away. It did the job rather nicely!
@wisconsinwintergreen6296
2 жыл бұрын
Yeah I don't get the hate for Skywrite. It's clearly a role-playing oriented spell, it's great at what it does
@ericb3157
2 жыл бұрын
reminds me of a scene in the online comic "order of the Stick", where the villains used a spell called "dancing lights" to call for reinforcements.
@Wanderingsage7
3 жыл бұрын
In immolation's defense, sometimes you're only fighting one enemy, or the boss of the encounter has survived the mooks. Or you're the only party member with dark vision. Or you're the only ranged in a party of melee.
@nicka3697
3 жыл бұрын
Or it's a troll and you lost your tinderbox.
@brettmajeske3525
3 жыл бұрын
@@nicka3697 Single trolls are about the only good target.
@DoomTone11
3 жыл бұрын
@@brettmajeske3525 Ditto for searing smite.
@donovanmarks1865
3 жыл бұрын
Immolation has one good kind of target and that is creatures that cannot pass a dexterity save, like a poor wizard's Disintegrate. Fitting, since it has the much the same effect on targets it kills. Target a stunned enemy and you guarantee that target takes 12d6 damage, and then maybe more. Still a bad spell.
@vanessam93900
3 жыл бұрын
Something else I would have mentioned about Mordekainen's Sword is that it's objectively worse than just upcasting Bigby's Hand to 7th level.
@binolombardi
3 жыл бұрын
Flaming sphere against resistance does more damage than mordenkainens sword when cast with a 7th level slot lol.
@minikawildflower
3 жыл бұрын
Wow, Mordenkainen's Sword is really Spiritual Weapon for a little more damage, but a seventh level slot and using concentration. You could cast Spiritual Weapon at 5th level for 3d8 damage on a bonus action, and NOT use concentration. The only thing you miss is taking an extra shot at them when the sword appears.
@bagamer13
3 жыл бұрын
Wouldn’t you need to cast it using a 6th level slot to get the 3d8? Looking at the language I read it as an extra d8 for every 2 slot levels above 2nd.
@brettmajeske3525
3 жыл бұрын
Is there any good reason for this spell to have concentration?
@PlanetOfTheApes999
3 жыл бұрын
@@brettmajeske3525 No. And there's no reason why it should deal such pathetic damage.
@brettmajeske3525
3 жыл бұрын
@@PlanetOfTheApes999 I do not think most of the seventh level spells were played tested.
@LightPink
Жыл бұрын
But you'd miss out on 3 wizard levels
@reedsmith8975
3 жыл бұрын
How did Witch Bolt avoid at least (dis)honorable mention?
@dylandugan76
3 жыл бұрын
Imo, spells that are bad simply because they do less damage than they should compared to similar spells shouldn't be on the list at all, unless we want the list to include a quarter of all spells. There are plenty of spells that are almost completely ineffective, or have negligibly minor effects, or are so circumstantial that they can almost never be used, to fill a bottom 10 list.
@Erik-um1zn
2 жыл бұрын
@@dylandugan76 There's a lot more wrong with Witch Bolt than doing less damage than it should, or else there would be a universal agreed upon fix of merely increasing damage; and I haven't seen that. Its problems are legion: Concentration, short range, must use your action every round, fairly easy to end spell, and--of course--about cantrip damage.
@UndeadForsaken
3 жыл бұрын
I was going to say "Maybe with the "new" bladesinger's extra attack from Tasha's, True Strike can get some niche use like with Blade Ward." But doesn't even work. U can't use it as ur cantrip and then attack to get advantage, 'cuz the cantrip gives advantage next turn... to one attack.
@moto2442
3 жыл бұрын
Nah it sucks complete ass. Doing 2 attacks is always better
@ericboeing1878
3 жыл бұрын
There's one situation where Dust Devil is somewhat useful: A Moon Druid who casts it before wild shaping into a Giant Spider. Gives you something to do with your bonus action, your blindsight lets you see through the obscurement, your web pins the enemy into the dust devil, and (unlike Flaming Sphere), it doesn't burn the webbing.
@nilsjonsson4446
3 жыл бұрын
If you're preventing their movement, just use Moonbeam. You place the Moonbeam on top of them and transform, they take 2d10 damage and move out, you then grapple/web/restrain them and drag them back in (2d10) and they take the damage again when they start their turn (2d10). During the time Moonbeam did 6d10 damage (or more if more targets were in the initial area), Dust Devil did 0, but will do 1d8 soon.
@FuelDropforthewin
3 жыл бұрын
I remember when Wierd was a mass save or die spell.
@TreantmonksTemple
3 жыл бұрын
2e I believe - in 3e it was the AOE Phantasmal Killer just as it is now (except PK was slightly better then because it could actually just kill you)
@smnb6652
3 жыл бұрын
In Pathfinder it still has the save or die effect, 2nd edition atleast.
@Erik-um1zn
2 жыл бұрын
Yep. For a couple of Editions it's basically Mass Phantasmal Killer, but that was when Phantasmal Killer was a save or die. Now its very subpar. If made phantasmal killer worthwhile, it would improve Weird quite a bit; still probably wouldn't be a 9th level slot though.
@sterlingdavison7337
3 жыл бұрын
The really funny part about Mordenkainen's sword is that clerics get a similar spell at 2nd level that doesn't use concentration and moves 30 instead of 20...does the same damage type and if scaled to use the same spell level would absolutely dunk on it in terms of damage haha.
@vampiregoat69
3 жыл бұрын
they really need to re-vamp a LOT of things in 5e
@Amrylin1337
3 жыл бұрын
Branch out to non D&D games and broaden your horizons. It's worth it. Go further than Pathfinder while you're at it.
@binolombardi
3 жыл бұрын
But if they do every forum/content creator will scream power creep while lamenting the need for 6E
@xthebumpx
3 жыл бұрын
@@Amrylin1337 Have some suggestions?
@FuelDropforthewin
3 жыл бұрын
@@xthebumpx I have been experimenting with Godforsaken, a Cypher based game. So far have been impressed.
@Battleguild
3 жыл бұрын
Fireball It can lead to unimaginative spam to dealing with enemies, instead of finding another creative alternative.
@WolfHreda
3 жыл бұрын
I can't help but wonder if there was a new guy in the office who confused 7th Level Spells with spells you can cast at 7th level, so a couple of these turds ended up way further up the list than they had any right to be. I mean, Mordenkainen's sword would be underpowered as a 3rd level spell even, never mind a 4th level one.
@marblemaster1
3 жыл бұрын
A great D&D insult I've heard: "Are you True Strike? Because you're useless."
@oldmandave304
3 жыл бұрын
I need a follow up video...homebrew to make these spells viable
@godminnette2
3 жыл бұрын
Treantmonk has already made this! Look up "Treantmonk spell variant"
@EchoKnight
3 жыл бұрын
Yeah I would love to see an appropriately powered Weird. It evokes some cool imagery that the actual spell just doesn't live up to. Like maybe causing an insanity effect over a small town sized radius, one person's greatest fear becoming a real thing for everyone to deal with, temporary teleportation to a bunch of different planes, and then bringing something back from that plane, so many cool options and we ended up with...that...
@MrGuyFaux
3 жыл бұрын
I've tried to fix True Strike before. Its an oddly tricky spell to fix because of the fact that it's a cantrip. Many of my fixes accidently landed it into the "now it's overpowered" category. One of my fixes was to simply make it so that True Strike gave advantage to an ally on their next attack, essentially allowing a 1st level caster to be sacrifice their action to be an infinite source of advantage. That's not so bad of an ability for when you run out of spells at low level if you have a rogue in the party. Making it a bonus action tipped it into "overpowered" territory. I'd love to see if Chris can balance it out better.
@misterpig7739
3 жыл бұрын
@@MrGuyFaux for making true strike give an ally advantage just the help action but as a cantrip? Edit: just looked it up, didn’t realize true strike would do it at ranged since I’ve never take. It or seen somebody else take it so didn’t realize that.
@joshh7819
3 жыл бұрын
Probably fix true strike by making for the duration of the 1 minute you have adv on your first attack against that target. That way you forgo your first attack to gain 1 adv on subsequent attacks for the duration of the min or until concentration is broken.
@Owlfeathers0117
3 жыл бұрын
While I entirely agree that Immolation is pretty useless as a direct combat spell, take it as a Sorceror with subtle spell metamagic and it becomes an amazing assassination tool. It has only a verbal component, so with subtle spell you can cast it in a totally undetectable manner from 90 feet away (and once cast, concentration can be maintained at any range). The flames are generated around the target with no clear line of effect back to you, and a failed save against a target not prepared for combat is generally guaranteed to kill since it cannot be extinguished nonmagically. Even if the target survives, they will probably have no idea what happened, who tried to kill them, or how to prevent such an attack from occurring again. You can do this to anyone, anywhere, in full view of the general populace, with no real chance of getting caught.
@craigaay
3 жыл бұрын
"make sure you include your address so I can come and slap you" = LOLLING 😂😂😂
@MatthewCampbell765
3 жыл бұрын
0:22 Treatmonk and the terrible no good very bad spells.
@matthewcrowther890
3 жыл бұрын
Can confirm, as a new player I played a high elf rogue. Almost took true strike. Thank god my party convinced me to take minor illusion instead.
@1313hman
3 жыл бұрын
Rogue is probably the only class that could ever justify true strike though. Still a terrible option by pretty much every metric, but hey, at least rogues get guaranteed sneak attack on advantage so there is a very, very, VERY situational possibility for TS+Attack to do better than Attack+Attack.
@johnriverdavis3497
3 жыл бұрын
power word pain is a great spell to have monsters be able to cast once per day. have the person have that character reflect on their most painful memory while doing it. true strike also has a weird niche use: have legendary creatures cast it as a legendary action at the end of the turn of the creature that goes right before them.
@alexkuieck6705
3 жыл бұрын
Prismatic Spray might actually have some use for Scribe wizards, having that many damage types to trade other spells into.
@SnarkyRogue
3 жыл бұрын
I would've liked to see you tackle how to fix them, if even possible, as you went along. Would a damage buff fix immolation? Would a lower level casting slot fix power word pain? I'm curious as to how I could fix these in case my players ever wanted them and not feel penalized for choosing them.
@zenfey
3 жыл бұрын
Never encountered someone so upset over the word "find" and I'm in stitches over it
@ericb3157
2 жыл бұрын
i am reminded me of scene in the online comic "order of the stick": the heroes got into a fight with a GIGANTIC demon. the wizard got desperate, s/he cast "crushing despair" on the monster, the cleric cast "bestow curse" on it, THEN the wizard cast Prismatic Spray... and got the Petrify effect.
@McGrewer
3 жыл бұрын
A lot of these spells can be made ok or good with some minor tweaking and an open minded DM okay with homebrew. -True Strike could be made good if you made it a bonus action and/or you can use it on an ally. You rogue would thank you more often if the latter part was the case. -Weird would be tolerable if it only needed one saving throw, always gave frightened, and did a smidge more damage. One to three more damage die tops. -Find Trap would actually be useable if they cleaned up the wording(making detect all traps too) and changed the name to Reveal Dangers. Also I would personally make it give you the general direction of each trap. Not the specific spot, just a "Hey, there's a danger to your north west" -Mordenkainen's Sword is trash. And even a fix world be trash. Which is sad because flavor wise it's pretty badass. I would say the sword had advantage on attack rolls and added your spell casting modifier to damage rolls. Or make it a lower level spell. No less then a 3rd-4th level spell -Legend Lore. Make it a ritual. Done. You could also make it give extremely vague/cryptic descriptions of "normal" items and places. "This sword is known for it's ease of use, being well balanced and cutting flesh easily" for generic +1-3 weapons. Up to DM really. -Prismatic Spray would be better if it did a few more damage dice, otherwise, it's a fairly hard spell to "fix" without losing the origin. -Power Word spells are generally bad since you need a specific HP to use, which requires guessing or metagaming. Both of which are bad. Power Word Pain specifically could be made okay if it dealt some non leathal damage for all the conditions needed to get it to work. -Immolation. just have it not need concentration. Instantly better. And comparing it to fireball is a little harsh, since spells like fireball and lightning bolt were intentionally jacked BECAUSE they're such iconic spells. They always have been. -Frost Fingers would be amazing if it immobilized undead or similar creatures like how Chilled Touch has a special interaction with them. Or just make it bigger when you upcast it. Give it a reason to up cast. -Searing Smite. No concertation or more damage. Or just not have it. Remove from the game. Honestly a lot of these spells would be better if they just didn't require concentration.
@Kritdblue2
3 жыл бұрын
Sometimes I wonder what the developers were thinking or at least intending when the crafted bad spells and bad subclasses.
@Joemantler
3 жыл бұрын
Look... You can either curse the Darkness, or cast Immolation. Or something like that. I'm pretty sure its a bumper sticker.
@BR4IN1N4J4R
3 жыл бұрын
Allow me to defend Searing Smite: low level Forge Cleric. It's something a Cleric doesn't normally do, it's free, and you're already martially inclined. Sure, once you get Heat Metal or Spirit Guardians, you'll never use it. But until then, not a terrible use of a spell slot
@LumenPlacidum
3 жыл бұрын
We fought a regenerating foe and searing smite was our only access to killing it. Best case I can think of.
@BR4IN1N4J4R
3 жыл бұрын
Agreed. If I didn't have it given to me for free, would I prepare it? No. But it's free, and if it's free, it's for me
@Oniphire
3 жыл бұрын
It's not free though. You could've had some other, far better domain spell.
@BR4IN1N4J4R
3 жыл бұрын
@@Oniphire Something can be said about Forge Cleric being someone's favorite domain (me, for example, having Forge Cleric as a pocket pick for any campaign of which I don't know the party make-up and I need an all-rounder character I'm comfortable with), so if you get it as a freebie (as in it's given to you), might as well use it
@warrenloving1141
2 жыл бұрын
find trap reminds me of Puffin Forest's defective sword of warning, You cast find traps, "there is a trap nearby". While searching for the trap your parties barbarian steps on a pressure plate. Spell, "I warned you"
@Bam31415
3 жыл бұрын
It's worth nothing that very circumstantial spells like legend lore or control weather are mostly OK to druids/clerics who get them for free while at the same time absolutely horrible for, say, a bard who chooses it over a good spell.
@goblinking1349
3 жыл бұрын
I could see myself prepare Legend Lore as a Cleric during downtime, if I was expecting to travel to a legendary location or to interact with a legendary item in the near future. It's definitely the least terrible spell on Treantmonk's list.
@Bam31415
3 жыл бұрын
Yeah, same. I'd never pick it as a class with a limited spell list (I'd be careful to pay for it as a wizard), but my cleric could prepare it during downtime if we learned our goal/object/opponent was "legendary".
@paulmiller6431
3 жыл бұрын
I wish dust devil would do damage and the effect when summoned and when pushed into creatures like flank sphere... it would almost be ok at that point ...
@EndyHawk
2 жыл бұрын
For Dust Devil, the encounter just before the Air Node in the Howling Caves in the Princes of the Apocalypse adventure is what that spell is for. Four wind priests, concentrating on that, in a winding-and-windy 10' wide hall, sniping with cantrips the whole while. That party has to chug through it, taking damage and getting punted back the whole while. I ran that adventure, and that encounter against 4 CR 2's was shockingly effective against a team of 5 Level 11-or-so PCs. Goes to show some of these spells, like Weird, aren't FOR PC's; they're DM tools for interesting encounters.
@KellendirsCorner
3 жыл бұрын
When you started talking about mordenkainens sword, i was thinking "What is wrong with him? This sounds like a really cool spell..." Then i heard the dreaded words "...takes your concentration." It is crazy how concentration can trash what would otherwise be a really fun spell.
@FlameUser64
Жыл бұрын
Even if it didn't take your concentration it would be a worse version of just upcasting Spiritual Weapon to 6th. And as is, it's a worse version of Bigby's Hand.
@davidioanhedges
3 жыл бұрын
Immolation: Out of combat you want to make an example of one NPC that shows everyone they were so wrong that nobody should every do that again ....
@davidioanhedges
3 жыл бұрын
True Strike: Cast when you can do nothing this round at all, but really need to hit next time, and have no other way of getting advantage... and you remember you have True Strike, and then remember you didn't bother as you had not used it ever ...
@antongrigoryev6381
3 жыл бұрын
If you have nothing to do on your turn, you can use the action for Dash behind cover, or to Dodge, or, if you can, Hide. Even doing nothing is better than wasting a cantrip slot. Remember that True Strike isn't exactly free, it takes away other options you could've taken.
@Deadknight67
Жыл бұрын
I think the reason why they made high level spells so bad is either flavor (power word kill for the vision of a wizard killing swarm of low level soldiers) or to encourage wizard to upcast burning hands.
@Erik-um1zn
2 жыл бұрын
Good video! I'm a little surprised that Witch Bolt didn't make at least the Honorable Mentions list though. I've almost given up criticizing D&D spells online because of the inevitable chorus of "Yeah, but that's really a DM spell" that seems to be constantly brought up. every. time. a. spell. is. criticized. (Except for True Strike. I've never even heard someone mount even this lazy and universal defense for that particular design blunder).
@Iceblade423
3 жыл бұрын
"But what if the DM says the creature is bloodied?" First, that is a house rule for something borrowed from 4e; second you don't know its max HP, so bloodied could be below 120 or below 200. Power Word Pain looks like a spell cast by high leveler Spellcasters against PC spellcasters. - Oh fun, I can't do anything for the next round or two or three cause like an idiot I played a low Con Wizard.
@davidcassell4659
Ай бұрын
Good video. I prefer to call Find Traps by names like 'Cause Paranoia, Range Self'.
@AnterasPL
3 жыл бұрын
Funny to see Investiture of Wind here. I played campaign with almost only ranged attack enemies and that spell together with piercing damage resistance was a life saver. I was casting it as a warlock and I never regretted that.
@bernardolucasmartino7011
Жыл бұрын
"Don't you confuse me with that logic" LOL
@dgmisal1979
3 жыл бұрын
I love your humor. Drier than the ground after I transform the mud to rock.
@tymoore253
3 жыл бұрын
Absolutely love the sarcasm and sass in this video 😂
@rafgulas6032
3 жыл бұрын
True Strike has a minor use. Cast it on a turn when you have the frightened condition, and thus have disadvantage. Advantage from true strike offsets disadvantage from fear, returning you to a normal attack roll.
@MalloonTarka
2 жыл бұрын
If you're frightened, you can't move towards the guy. True Strike has a range of 30 feet. Do the maths. Really, you're better off trying to get advantage any other way.
@S0nyb1ack
3 жыл бұрын
As a DM i kinda like Power word pain against the players :) I know it'll succeed when I plan on using it and while it certainly affects the fight its effect is preferable to stunning or completely incapacitating the player (as a DM I do like to use debuff spell that allow the players to do at least something, not take them completely out of action, sometimes I'll hit them with a hold person but most often I try to avoid it)
@WorkingClassic
3 жыл бұрын
Hearing you go off on these spells is hilarious. You do a good rant lol
@seacliff217
3 жыл бұрын
I don't know what they were thinking when designing Mordenkainen's Sword. Spiritual Weapon casted at the 6th level (which is something I've never done) would do more damage at 3d8+Spelcasting Mod, has the same bonus action effect, same damage type, same movement speed, can be casted as a bonus action, doesn't require a 250 gold material component, and most importantly, doesn't require concentration. If a Bard REALLY wants to use the spell for flavor or something, just take Spiritual Weapon.
@Startoshadows
3 жыл бұрын
Upcast flaming sphere similarly is better in most respects except the damage type, so it's not even just spiritual weapon that outclasses it.
@seacliff217
3 жыл бұрын
@@Startoshadows Agreed. Though I'd put Flaming Sphere between the two spells. It still requires concentration and only lasts a minute, but at least has the benefit of doing half damage on a successful save. It's effects are reasonable for a 2nd level spell. Wizards are defiantly better off picking it up over Mordenkainen's Sword even at level 13.
@Startoshadows
3 жыл бұрын
@@seacliff217 Yeah, I prefer spiritual weapon to flaming sphere generally but don't usually have a choice since most classes just have one or the other. Flaming sphere also does an AoE effect if you have some way to encourage or force foes to stay put, so can be situationally better. Btw spiritual weapon also only lasts a minute, you're probably thinking of spirit guardians (another amazing cleric spell).
@seacliff217
3 жыл бұрын
@@Startoshadows Thanks for the correction.
@showcase0525
Ай бұрын
3 years later and its hard to argue with the list as given.
@Kefkafish
3 жыл бұрын
soooooo... Thing about Immolation, its its ONLY Verbal, no somatic, no material. Meaning when the guard comes up to gloat over you while your gears in another room and you're tied to a chair, you CAN cast Immolation on him and get the keys off his ash'd corpse. Circumstantial yes, but not without some other use I didn't see mentioned. Yeah, there are probably other options that still fit that bill, but its worth mentioning when comparing directly to something like Fireball.
@KaitlynBurnellMath
3 жыл бұрын
From time to time I look for edge cases for true strike. And occasionally I'll find something that's better than not acting. Like if you're a melee character, don't have range options, maybe your javellins were stolen, not a caster, maybe just a one level dip or magic initiate so no other use of concentration, and due to positioning can get in 30 foot range but not melee range. Feels like the number of situations it's worth casting might be higher than zero? But...then I actually sit down to make a character, look at how many fantastic cantrips there are, and notice that I can only pick 3 of them, and all thoughts of finding edge cases for True Strike vanish.
@phasepanther4423
11 күн бұрын
I'd homebrew weird to 300ft radius, concentration, 10 minute duration, everyone that you don't specify to not be affected has to make a wisdom saving throw every turn or be frightened. When frightened they get a saving throw each turn. Succeeding on the save deals 4d10 psychic damage. They also get advantage on the throw to resist the spell each turn in the radius.
@Krokou
2 жыл бұрын
One of my players actually found a good use for true strike: Once my players were fighting an earth creature that kept out of reach by earth gliding, surfacing to attack occasionally, and then burrowing for a random number of rounds before repeating. That way no one could ready action their spells, because they would be wasted if the elemental didn't show in time. So the (college of lore) bard kept preparing true strike while the other players readied grapples. After a successful grapple she hit it with Contagion (thanks to the advantage, no less!) to make it poisoned for disadvantage on escaping the grapple. Brilliant! Not circumstantial at all!
@5Dworld
3 жыл бұрын
I was patiently waiting for True Strike and Treeantmonk did not disappoint.
@williamroop451
2 жыл бұрын
I have thought of a very limited case where True Strike might be handy.... If the caster is hidden too far from the enemies to affect them and the barbarian was goading them in so that, when in range, the caster could make a spell attack with advantage on it.... Of course, that would probably only happen at a 5yr olds birthday party to drop a surprise on them, but it COULD be handy.
@cyrosgold7
2 жыл бұрын
Frost fingers could be great if the targets are walking through water or swimming since it freezes the water in the area. It could create a bridge over any liquid like a pool of acid, or even lava.
@clarkside4493
3 жыл бұрын
I've thought about a shadow sorcerer conjuring his hound and then twinning _immolation_ on the hound's target and another guy, but that's a LOT of sorcery points spent all at once.
@Thamer4life
3 жыл бұрын
Another major flaw of Find Trap is that, despite its range being 120 feet, the trap you're trying to find via the spell must be "in line of sight". This means two things: 1- If you cast Find Traps in dungeons, which are usually segmented into rooms and are also probably where parties encounter traps most often, the spell can only tell you about traps *one room at a time.* It'd be like you're a bird watcher and every time you wanna look at a different bird, you smash your binoculars and bring out a new pair. 2- If a trap must be in line of sight to be revealed by Find Traps, why not just try to, I dunno, find it? With your eyes and ears?
@gregoryfloriolli9031
3 жыл бұрын
I have to give a dishonorable mention to Witch Bolt only because this is a Trap for so many new players. They read the spell, have images of being like Emperor Palpatine, only to find out the spell is garbage.
@jonaskingofsparta
2 жыл бұрын
"So what you're saying is that I can spend a 7th level slot to do approximately what spiritual weapon would do upcast to 6th level" "exactly" "except it requires concentration" "indeed" "and requires a fancy spell component" "you got it" "Amazing deal! Where do I sign up?"
@anoobindisguise4337
3 жыл бұрын
The ONLY thing Immolation has going for it is the V-only effect. In case you're roleplaying a mage who has all their limbs cut off or something, in which case it may be their only option. lol
@nature337
3 жыл бұрын
Maybe truestrike is situationally useful for when your action would otherwise go to waste? Ex: you are 60 ft from a target with 30ft move speed and no ranged attacks or cantrips. You could dash, but not have an attack that round, or you could walk 30 ft, cast true strike, and then next turn you can finish walking and take an attack with advantage.
@katiekhabbazi6849
3 жыл бұрын
That situation probably comes up quite often in games where close attention to distances and positions is taken. I've noticed myself casting it all the time in Baldur's Gate 3 where that's something you can't ignore since the computer works that out for you.
@misterbxiv
Жыл бұрын
In defense of true strike-it’s Somatic only. So, if you are stealthed, it’s a free adv on your first attack. So at least there’s a pre-battle use case
@peebleshamster5189
3 жыл бұрын
True strike makes me feel like Can -Trip was supposed to be spelled Can - Trap. Got'em
@NoNameBoi9987
4 ай бұрын
Crown of Madness should be on this list too. At most, it will waste one turn for a single npc, and it’s not even guaranteed to work when they fail their save.
@barbiedea4367
3 жыл бұрын
“And then you took them to a house and they said “I sense there is a ghost somewhere in this house, there ya go I found you a ghost””, No you didn’t, you haven’t found something. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
@FlameUser64
Жыл бұрын
Technically existent use cases for True Strike: 1. Elven paladin with Elven Accuracy, if you could somehow also get this spell. You give yourself a high crit chance, which has a decent chance of letting you spend 1 smite for 2 smites worth of damage. Of course, as a paladin, you're probably already concentrating on Divine Favour or Crusader's Mantle… 2. You're a melee rogue. A strict DM won't let you attack in melee with the advantage from hiding because you'll have to break stealth to approach the target. This gives you a way to have advantage anyway. 3. You're a melee combatant and can't reach the target this turn. Of course, you'd also have to not need your concentration for anything else… so this is useless to a hexblade.
@McCrappy
3 жыл бұрын
Where my boy Witch Bolt at? That's the king of trap spells that newbies fall for and then are massively disappointed by.
@capncaleb8491
Жыл бұрын
I'd love to see a video on how you'd fix these terrible spells.
@JohnvanCapel
2 жыл бұрын
Legend Lore is in that category of what I call "NPC Spells". Need some non-magical artifact identified so you know where to bring it as a sidequest? Pay the NPC wizard to cast Legend Lore on it and see what it gives you. As a player, you won't need it often - but an NPC knowledge-broker, heck yes. There's a few spells like that, which I wish were in the DMG rather than the Player's Handbook.
@markadkins1842
3 жыл бұрын
One of my best kills was with Prismatic Spray... in D&D 3.5. Greater Wyrm Red Dragon got the Plane Shift effect & gpt randomly shunted to Mechanus. Crazy dumb luck, but it was so fun!
@closetmonkey9677
3 жыл бұрын
I was waiting for Tenser's Transformation...
@lucasgillett4321
3 жыл бұрын
*Very* minor defence for Searing Smite: Zariel Tieflings get it as a racial spell, automatically upcast to 2nd level. So if you're a ZT melee Fighter or Rogue then you can use it to get a small damage bump once a day without worrying about having better options (unless you're an EK/AT, or need your Bonus Action for something else).
@Battleguild
3 жыл бұрын
Sadly, if Find Trap worked like Detect Magic (but could only find intentionally created traps), the spell would have been worth taking.
@samuelsalvatore4511
8 ай бұрын
what i hate about true strike the most isn't the concentration, it's the fact that it only works on your next turn, meaning that if you're a sorcerer, you can't use quicken spell, which is literally the only situation where this cantrip would be useful imagine being a warlock sorcerer, and you quicken spell true strike and eldritch blast or a spell with an attack, it would be so dope, but no! they literally made a spell that does absolutely nothing the only time when this spell was useful was when my DM ruled it as being able to expose an enemies weaknesses and resistances, pretty much letting me know if it's weak to poison or immune to fire, and even then i only used it once
@coldfusion230
3 жыл бұрын
Suppose your bladesinger ran up to the monster only to realize it's a reskinned Fire Giant Dreadnought after the first attack. It might be arguable to use true strike in place of the second attack in preparation for steel wind strike the following turn. Although this scenario will never happen as nobody will pick the cantrip in the first place.
@J_Halcyon
3 жыл бұрын
I've got a genuine use case for True Strike: If the attack you're making can only be made once. Say you're fighting the BBEG and you've got one arrow of BBEG slaying - you want to have advantage on the attack roll when you use it on round 2 more than you want to make a second attack action on round 2, so you cast True Strike on round one. Now, you could gain advantage some other way, like by gaining invisibility or being sneaky, and a party member who can cast True Strike should probably not be also the best archer in the party, so this is even still extremely niche and doesn't rescue True Strike in any way, but there you go. A valid situation when casting True Strike might be better than attacking twice.
@TheMadJestyr
3 жыл бұрын
Yeah, in my game True strike is a 1st level spell: BA to cast - your first attack this turn has advantage. Still not that great but at least has some use in the right situation.
@benwilsher6684
3 жыл бұрын
Depending on how strict your DM is about spell components, Immolation can be useful to have on your spell list in certain scenarios as the only component is verbal - this means you can cast it without your component pouch or spellcasting focus and even while you are restrained. There are very few damage spells like this. It's very situational but all the same something worth taking note of
@godofzombi
3 жыл бұрын
Unseen servant is the best find trap spell. Give it a stick and tell it to go poke at things untill it springs a trap.
@xvader9445
3 жыл бұрын
Best video yet....very informative and Funny. Perfect video upload for a Friday
@ZetaNiGHT
3 жыл бұрын
I would like to nominate a new ranking color of Brown for the spells that are worse than red lol
@FlutesLoot
3 жыл бұрын
I agree Enervate is generally horrible, but I have learned it as a Wizard before and prepared it if I thought I might get wounded while being able to lockdown an enemy who can't get away. I picture a Force Cage (cage version) or anything that might restrain a creature, followed up with Enervate to sap their life away. Again, I know it's not amazing, but I told another player how I pictured it and their reaction to how dark it was is good enough for me to want to achieve it. Your list is very accurate, though. I can't deny that!
@nessesaryschoolthing
3 жыл бұрын
Ways True Strike can be good 1. If you really DO have something that valuable that you need to spend a turn to make sure it lands. Say you're upcasting an Acid Arrow SPECIFICALLY. Might save a spell slot, though who knows why you're doing that. Or let's say you have a magic javelin that can be great if it hits, but if you miss it's gone. That would be more for Eldritch Knights. 2. As a sneaky advantage in plain sight. Take a look at the requirements for the spell. It's just pointing. If you just point at somebody, it's not particularly obvious that you're casting a spell at them or doing much anything at all for that matter. But you know if the conversation turns south you will have advantage on hitting them. You can keep casting it every round until the fight begins and nobody will really notice. Again, mostly useful for an Eldritch Knight, an Arcane Trickster, or a Hexblade, but not useless. 3. As a less sneaky advantage in a conversation. Say someone knows you're casting a spell on them. But they can't ask anybody for help, since you have the benefit of the doubt. You were just pointing at them, that's all. You've effectively got someone at gunpoint out in the open. Again, that is if you have something to follow it up with. 4. If you take a liberal interpretation of what's written. Read it again. "Your magic grants you a brief insight into the target’s defenses." What does that mean to you? It could just be flavor text to explain why you get advantage, but let's say it means more. You cast this on a creature, you learn something about it's stat block, it's vulnerabilities, it's hit points, it's saves. It can't be a lot, it is a brief insight, but it could be something. If it's something + advantage, it's more of a tactical choice.
@Ottriman
3 жыл бұрын
Man did they do my boi Prismatic Spray dirty in this edition. Compare the effects in D&D 3,5. 1: 20 fire damage (reflex half) 2: 40 acid damage (reflex half) 3: 80 electric damage (reflex half) 4: Poison (fortitude or die, success still reduces your con by 1d6) 5: Turned to stone (fortitude negates) 6: Creature is driven insane (permanently confused) (Will negates) 7: Sent to another plane (Will negates) 8: Roll twice and discard any "8" results Oh and every creature in the cone that has 8 or fewer hd (basically level 8 or less) is blinded for 2d4 rounds as well with no save. This spell is actually pretty good in 3,5 edition.
@jandrewwheeler
3 жыл бұрын
The use for true strike is situations where you're having a conversation with a potential enemy. It only has a somatic component (pointing) so it is impolite, but not overtly hostile. If the negotiations fail, you get advantage on your first attack. If they don't, no harm done, no spell slot used.
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