Spell Changes in Xanathar's Guide

[Cognomen's Cassowary]

I have only just begun taking a close look at the spells in XGtE, and I have been trying to keep track of the changes from Elemental Evil. I think it would be handy to have a thread compiling the differences, so let's wiki this magic!

Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting: damage increased from 10d8 to 12d8
Absorb Elements: available to sorcerer
Catapult: range decreased from 150 to 60 feet, reworded for clarity
Create Bonfire: clarified that the fire is magic, added paragraph saying that the bonfire burns objects in its space
Earth Tremor: range changed from self (10 feet) to 10 feet
Immolation: initial damage increased from 7d6 to 8d6, ongoing damage increased from 3d6 to 4d6
Ice Knife: Changed to "the target and each creature within 5 feet of it" instead of "within five feet of the point of where the ice exploded"
Thunderclap: range changed from self (5 feet) to 5 feet
Tidal Wave: available to sorcerer

That's as much as I have noticed, after delving for an hour or so. I'm sure there's a lot more, so help me out!

Edit: As Pukunui points out below, somebody has already done the work. A post by InquisitiveCoder in this thread on the D&D Beyond forums, from research shared by dingosatemyusername on Reddit, details the changes.


Not from Elemental Evil, but Ceremony has changed: the option for Investiture has been removed, and the Funeral Rite requires touching the corpse, and not being within 5 feet of it.

[pukunui]

In one of the other threads discussing Xanathar's Guide someone linked to a thread on the D&D Beyond forums that had all the changes listed. I can't seem to find it now.

FWIW Jeremy Crawford says they will be updating the Elemental Evil Player's Companion to reflect the changes in Xanathar's Guide.

[Cognomen's Cassowary]

In one of the other threads discussing Xanathar's Guide someone linked to a thread on the D&D Beyond forums that had all the changes listed. I can't seem to find it now.

FWIW Jeremy Crawford says they will be updating the Elemental Evil Player's Companion to reflect the changes in Xanathar's Guide.

Ah, thanks. I believe I have found the thread. I'll update my original post when I get a minute.

[Gladius Legis]

Absorb Elements is also available to the Ranger now.

[Yaarel]

For the sake of completeness, this is cut-and-pasted -and-massaged from the dndbeyond.com site, posted by InquisitiveCoder and credited to DingosAteMyUsername on reddit.com.



Sorcerer spell list additions:
Absorb Elements
Tidal Wave
Whirlwind

Wizard spell list additions:
Warding Wind

Damage changes:
Abi-Dalzim’s Horrid Wilting (10d8 -> 12d8)
Immolation (7d6 -> 8d6, 3d6 -> 4d6)

Range changes:
Catapult (150 -> 60)

Duration changes:
Transmute Rock (Instantaneous -> Until dispelled)

Area changes:
Watery Sphere (10-foot radius -> 5 foot-radius)



Text changes:

Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting:
"10d6" -> "12d6"
+ "Nonmagical plants in the area that aren’t creatures, such as trees and shrubs, wither and die instantly."

Bones of the Earth:
"...you can target ground under a creature..." -> "...you can target the ground under a creature..."
"...with a 10-foot radius. The rubble lasts until cleared." -> "...with a 10-foot radius that lasts until the rubble is cleared. Each 5-foot-diameter portion of the area requires at least 1 minute to clear by hand."
"saving throw DC" -> "save DC"

Catapult:
"Range: 150 feet" -> "Range: 60 feet"
"In either case, both the object and the creature or solid surface take..." -> "When the object strikes something, the object and what it strikes each take..."

Create Bonfire:
"Until the spells ends, the bonfire..." -> "Until the spell ends, the magic bonfire..."
"...when it enters the bonfire’s space..." -> "...when it moves into the bonfire’s space..."
+ "The bonfire ignites flammable objects in its area that aren’t being worn or carried."

Earth Tremor
"Range: Self (10-foot radius)" -> "Range: 10 feet"
"You cause a tremor in the ground in a 10-foot radius." -> "You cause a tremor in the ground within range."
+ "...with each 5-foot-diameter portion requiring at least 1 minute to clear by hand."

Ice Knife:
"Components: S, M (a drop of water or piece of ice)" -> "Components: S, M (a drop of water or a piece of ice)"
"The target and each creature within 5 feet of the point where the ice exploded must..." -> "The target and each creature within 5 feet of it must..."

Immolation:
"7d6" -> "8d6"
"3d6" -> "4d6"
"...can’t be extinguished through nonmagical means..." -> "...can’t be extinguished by nonmagical means..."
"...reduces a target to 0 hit points..." -> "...kills a target..."

Investiture of Stone:
"nonmagical weapons" -> "nonmagical attacks"

Maximilian's Earthen Grasp:
"...target, who must make..." -> "...target, which must make..."
"It takes..." -> "The target takes..."
"...the restrained target can make a Strength check..." -> "...the restrained target can use its action to make a Strength check..."

Pyrotechnics:
"...area of flame that you can see and that can fit within..." -> "...area of nonmagical flame that you can see and that fits within..."
"...and you create either fireworks or smoke." -> "...and you create either fireworks or smoke when you do so."

Thunderclap:
"Range: Self (5-foot radius)" -> "Range: 5 feet"
"...sound, which can be heard 100..." -> "...sound that can be heard up to 100..."
"Each creature other than you within 5 feet of you must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 1d6 thunder damage." -> "Each creature within range, other than you, must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or take 1d6 thunder damage."

Tidal Wave:
"On a failure..." -> "On a failed save..."
"On a success..." -> "On a successful save..."
+ "...and then it vanishes."

Transmute Rock:
"Duration: Instantaneous" -> "Duration: Until dispelled"
"...40-foot cube and that is within range..." -> "...40-foot cube and is within range..."
"...thick and flowing mud..." -> "...thick, flowing mud..."
"If you cast the spell on an area of ground, it becomes..." -> "The ground in the spell’s area becomes..."
"...make this save the first time it enters the area on a turn..." -> "...make the saving throw when it moves into the area for the first time on a turn..."
"The restrained creature can use an action to try to break free..." -> "A restrained creature, or another creature within reach, can use an action..."

Vitriolic Sphere:
"You point at a place within range..." -> "You point at a location within range..."
"...a glowing 1-foot ball..." -> "...a glowing, 1-foot-diameter ball..."
"...20-foot radius..." -> "...20-foot-radius sphere..."
"...10d4 acid damage and 5d4 acid damage..." -> "...10d4 acid damage and another 5d4 acid damage..."

Warding Wind:
Some of the bullet points got shuffled around, but no text changed.

Watery Sphere:
"...with a 10-foot radius on a point..." -> ...with a 5-foot radius at a point..."
"The sphere can hover in the air, but no more than" -> "The sphere can hover but no more than..."
"...nearest unoccupied space outside it." -> "...nearest unoccupied space of the creature’s choice outside the sphere."
+ "...and a Large or smaller creature can choose to fail it."
+ "...ending the effect on itself on a success."
"...restrain a maximum of four..." -> "...restrain as many as four..."
"...restrains a creature in excess of these numbers..." -> "...restrains a creature that causes it to exceed this capacity..."
"...over a pit, cliff, or other drop..." -> "...over a pit, a cliff, or other drop-off..."
"...10 feet over ground..." -> "...10 feet above the ground..."
+ "The water then vanishes."

Whirlwind:
"...point on the ground you specify." -> "...point that you can see on the ground within range."

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Absorb Elements is also available to the Ranger now.

It always was...

[pukunui]

Absorb Elements is also available to the Ranger sorcerer now.

Fixed!

Create Bonfire:
"Until the spells ends, the bonfire..." -> "Until the spell ends, the magic bonfire..."
"...when it enters the bonfire’s space..." -> "...when it moves into the bonfire’s space..."
+ "The bonfire ignites flammable objects in its area that aren’t being worn or carried."

Changing "enters" to "moves into" strikes me as unnecessary and inconsistent. Are they going to change all the spells in the PHB that refer to entering an area as well?

[Kobold Stew]

Not from Elemental Evil, but from UA:

Ceremony has lost the option of "Investiture"
Also, the option for "Funeral Rite" requires touching the corpse, and not just being within 5' of it.

[gyor]

Not from Elemental Evil, but from UA:

Ceremony has lost the option of "Investiture"
Also, the option for "Funeral Rite" requires touching the corpse, and not just being within 5' of it.

I believe the benefits of many of the features increased for 24 hours to 7 days.

[Kobold Stew]

Just of Marriage, but yes.