D&D 5E Spells cast at higher level spell slots. Worth it?

Overall, do you find yourself ever, or even often, casting lower level spells using higher level spell slots? I see the utility in some obvious spells such as Cure Wounds and Bless, but overall I don't find myself doing so and don't really see the value. Am I missing something? With the way D&D spells scale, should a 3rd level Burning Hands be equivalent to 3rd level Fireball, or is the system made to give an edge to spells that are inherently a higher tier? Are there issues with the way spells scale, and if so, has anyone attempted to address the issues they find?

Personally in my table experience as a player (currently playing a Warlock), I have not really found much benefit to casting lower level spells at higher spell slots. Even though Warlock automatically upscales those lower spells to the highest spell slot I can cast, I find I pretty much stick to the higher level spells, with the exception of Hex and the occasional utility spell.

I ask because:

1) I'm always curious about other people's experiences and thoughts with using D&D.

2) I am the kind of person that looks at a system, tries to become an expert at that system, and then begins to use that knowledge to both homebrew new material and adjust the existing mechanics to refine balance. I did this with 3.5, basically rewriting the entire player's handbook. I have started doing this to an extent with 5e, but I have yet to tackle the spells and I just want to get a sense of what I might be in for if I try.

Damage spell are not good cast at higher level. Adding another ray at scorching ray is meh. But targeting two persons with hold is quite nice.

As Krachek mentions, getting another target with hold is nice and I think that is where upcasting spells really shines, being able to target additional targets with spells. Summon spells also open up more options at higher levels, either more powerful creatures or greater numbers of less powerful creatures.

Upcasting damage spells might be good in certain situations, however, I probably wouldn't make a habit of upcasting them since an extra d6 on a 4th level fireball isn't going to make much of an impact and often, you will have spells at the higher levels that are more effective.

Upranking is more useful to classes that have limited spells known, like the Sorcerer.

The decision for Burning Hands and Fireball to deal the same damage in any given spell slot is, in my opinion, one of the smartest things in this game. Fireball is still better than Burning Hands, because the area of effect is larger and usually more convenient, but it isn't stronger in every situation. It's great for multiclass wizard/clerics, who get to maintain their expected efficacy even if they only have access to low-level spells.

I think the slot scaling system is hurt by the existence of high-level spells which break the formula. The fact that Meteor Swarm hits so much harder than Fireball IX is unfortunate, but given that it's only going to show up in very high-level games anyway, the impact isn't that significant. The fact that Heal is so much better than Cure Wounds is much more disruptive.

At level 5-8, I find I am regularly upscaling Sleep to knock out minions in the first round.

It depends on the number of spells known/prepared. Part of the reason for doing this is to allow characters to have fewer overall spells, since they can cast some spells at higher level. This way you don't need a damage spell for every level, but there is a trade off: upgraded spells are usually less powerful than on level spells. Some spells don't even give you a benefit, but you might need to just to be able to cast the spell (if you've already spent all the slots on that level).

In my party, our Gold Dragon Sorceress is specialized in Fire spells, (sub-class ability plus Elemental Affinity feat). She uses Fireball as her primary offensive spell, with Wall of Fire and Erupting Earth (for Fire Immune) as secondary options. Her other spells are mostly utility based, because as a Sorceress she doesn't have that many known spells. She used to have a Fire spell for each level, but found that while the damage was more optimized, it left her less useful out of combat.

Saelorn said:

The decision for Burning Hands and Fireball to deal the same damage in any given spell slot is, in my opinion, one of the smartest things in this game. Fireball is still better than Burning Hands, because the area of effect is larger and usually more convenient, but it isn't stronger in every situation. It's great for multiclass wizard/clerics, who get to maintain their expected efficacy even if they only have access to low-level spells.

Click to expand...

Eh?

Level 1:
Burning Hands: 3d6
Fireball: N/A

Level 2:
Burning Hands: 4d6
Fireball: N/A

Level 3:
Burning Hands: 5d6
Fireball: 8d6

Level 4:
Burning Hands: 6d6
Fireball: 9d6

Etc.

Fireball is always 3d6 more damaging than Burning Hands, and that never changes.

Hemlock said:

Eh?

Level 1:
Burning Hands: 3d6
Fireball: N/A

Level 2:
Burning Hands: 4d6
Fireball: N/A

Level 3:
Burning Hands: 5d6
Fireball: 8d6

Level 4:
Burning Hands: 6d6
Fireball: 9d6

Etc.

Fireball is always 3d6 more damaging than Burning Hands, and that never changes.

Click to expand...

So in a situation like this, would it make sense to adjust the progression, and maybe even create a kind of diminishing return? For example:

Level 1:
Burning Hands: 3d6
Fireball: N/A

Level 2:
Burning Hands: 5d6 (+2d6 rather than +1d6 for level 2 slot)
Fireball: N/A

Level 3:
Burning Hands: 7d6 (+2d6 rather than +1d6 for level 3 slot)
Fireball: 8d6

Level 4:
Burning Hands: 8d6 (back to +1d6 for each additional slot after 3rd level slot)
Fireball: 9d6

Saelorn said:

The decision for Burning Hands and Fireball to deal the same damage in any given spell slot is, in my opinion, one of the smartest things in this game.

Click to expand...

Um... they don't deal the same damage in any given spell slot. Fireball deals 3d6 more damage at every level (except 1st and 2nd, of course).

Saelorn said:

I think the slot scaling system is hurt by the existence of high-level spells which break the formula. The fact that Meteor Swarm hits so much harder than Fireball IX is unfortunate, but given that it's only going to show up in very high-level games anyway, the impact isn't that significant. The fact that Heal is so much better than Cure Wounds is much more disruptive.

Click to expand...

No, it's necessary. If meteor swarm did the same damage as a 9th-level fireball (or if fireball did the same damage as a 3rd-level burning hands), there would be no reason to learn or prepare the higher-level spell. It would be far more optimal to simply prepare the lower-level spell, uplevel it if you want that massive burst, and still be able to cast it at lower levels and use the high-level slot for something else. Higher-level spells are intrinsically far less flexible than lower-level ones, so they make up for it in power.

Hemlock said:

Fireball is always 3d6 more damaging than Burning Hands, and that never changes.

Click to expand...

Weird. I wonder where I got that from, then.

In that case, apparently upranking of damage spells is terrible. It is yet another example of poor design in this edition. Fixing that would be a good thing to do if they ever get around to making a revised edition.